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Though still tired and weary, Aya managed to keep herself upright during their lecture. Her headache had dulled to a soft thumping, almost easy to ignore -- it turned out that her true issue (beyond the trauma of the previous night) had been dehydration. After waking up in her room, Aya had found her half-filled water bottle discarded on her bedside table and hadn't been able to drain it fast enough. Even now, standing in the danger room among her classmates, her throat felt dry. 

Or maybe it was just the way Dean Ashford met her gaze, brown eyes pinning her in place as he questioned their -- [i]her[/i] -- motives for being at the school, that had her tongue tasting like cotton in her mouth.

...Why [i]had[/i] she come to the academy? 

[i]To never use her powers again.[/i] Something rang hollow. Ashford and Pierce left the room, words still echoing in the air: [i]Don't squander your opportunity.[/i]

Aya wasn't sure why she felt guilty. Opportunity? What about the opportunity to have a normal, uncomplicated life? The opportunity to not have to worry about monsters and criminals, to... to simply [i]live[/i]? More and more, it felt like she was chasing something that had never been in her reach to begin with. 

Images of the night before flashed in her mind again, visceral and frightening. Aya pressed her lips together. Her dream floated through her thoughts, red eyes, teeth, smoke, and a dark smile. Aya hesitated. Then she turned and slipped through the crowd of students and out the door.

She quickened her pace to catch up to the two figures making their way down the hallway.

[color=aquamarine]"Dean Ashford,"[/color] she called, trying not to sound timid. [color=aquamarine]"I'm -- I'm sorry, but could I please talk to you about something? Privately?"[/color]